Cold Night
by wolf in moonlight
Summary: After The Kishin is revived and Medusa appears to be dead we find Eruka and Free sitting around a campfire. From Free's pov. What to do now with your newfound freedom. Eruka x Free story was not written with that in mind so it's open to interpretation.


Free sat near the fire in the pitch black night, Eruka sat a few feet away also enjoying the fire. The blackness enveloping everything, the glow of the fire being the sole source of not only warmth, but comfort as well. The atmosphere felt absent of any sort of positive feelings and the silence did nothing to help the situation. As strange as it sounds Free couldn't help but think this strange uncomfortable feeling he and Eruka were going through was a result of Medusa's absence. It being strange because the witch was normally a unsettling person to be around, her eyes could send chills down your spine. It had been but a few days since they had freed the first kinshin, Asura, And they had not heard from Medusa since and assumed she...well...was dead. Yet somehow without her leadership both he and Eruka now felt lost and without guidance. At least he did because Eruka appeared to be ecstatic about her apparent demise, talking endlessly about what a relief being freed from her abusive control was. Free couldn't help but wonder why Eruka was still here with him then. If Eruka had only been involved in all this because of Medusa's control then why when she was suddenly freed from it did she remain beside him. Didn't she have a life to go back to? Didn't she talk endlessly to him about the trouble all this was? The fact she was still here gazing at the fire as he was now was his indication that she felt as lost as he was.

Free had no real life to go back to, having been imprisoned for hundreds of years. His motivation up till now had been to repay Medusa for freeing him from the vile witches prison. But now with her gone he was at a loss as what to do now.

Free was munching on some chips as he pondered all this. His mind shifted to what he was eating now. "chips huh, didn't have this back when I was free. been dying to try some since I heard about them but guards were such downers, didn't let me have anything fun. but I guess years of anticipation made it seem like it was better than they actually are. Nothing ever lives up to the hype."  
Continuing his thoughts "maybe that's what I should do for awhile, see what's changed in the world, what's new! try out all the new things that have come since I was imprisoned. Like those Veg...ur...Ved...uh." scratching the back of his head as he tried to remember what it was called. "Video games, yeah that's it. Something like T.V. but you control what happens now that's cool. I can't believe they can do that without magic."

Free once again focused his attention on Eruka as the light glow of the fire lit up her face which looked as down as he did. "Do you want some" he said as he held the bag of chips out to her, still chewing as he did so. She leaned back and held up both hands, "uhhh...??...no thanks", she said with a smile and her eyes held shut. the awkward silence was immediately broken again by Free, "Well what do you plan to do now that you're as free as me?"  
Eruka looked him in the eyes as she spoke, "same thing I was doing before, nothing I guess. Causing some mischief and messing with people using magic." She sighed and Free asked "then what's with the sigh?" Answering his question, "it's just that doesn't seem as fulfilling as it used to after having been working towards some higher purpose even if I didn't care for it. All that other stuff I was doing just feels empty now. I also have grown accustomed to having other people around me which well...I didn't have before. The idea of being alone again isn't very appealing afterwards."  
"I could go with you...or you could come with me...whichever." Free said straightforward. Eruka smiled a little at him and said, "For now I'd like that I guess." The two merely sat watching the firelight without saying another word, Free thinking that maybe he'd found a new reason to live, to simply live with another. Unknown to either of them their aimless lives would be given something to focus on as they would soon find themselves set with another task by the presumably dead witch, Medusa.


End file.
